All I want for Christmas
by rinalii
Summary: AU. Collection of short fluffy Christmas stories. Everyone x FemC. 2: Under the Mistle-toe; RyojixFemC
1. Subtlety

_Hello, everyone! It's me again with another story. Hope you're all enjoying the holidays. This story is an 'Everybody __loves FemC' fanfic, added with extra cheezy just for you. Though, j__ust for the guys she can have in the lovers' route__—_Shinji, Aki, Ken and Ryoji. (I'm still not sure if Theo counts, can someone tell me? ;~;)_ It consists four short stories____—_one for each pairing; set in Christmas. This will be AU-ish, considering that Shinji and Ryoji aren't supposed to be in this timeline. The stories aren't connected with each other in any way_—it's because__ I had trouble with writing a whole story where everybody loves the FemC, without making her seem like a... player. _I've also decided to take out the stuff about Nyx and death in the short stories, because I didn't want to make them gloomy. I tried not to let my ShinjixFemC bias get through, so I hope you enjoy them all.

_I've already finished all four, but I've decided to upload them seperately from each other. So, anyway... this is going to be the first short story—I'll post the second one in a couple of days or so._

**Disclaimer:** Persona 3 and it's characters (c) Atlus.

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Short Story #1: Subtlety (KenxFemC)

The entire dorm was wrapped in a dimly lit green light, suggesting that it was already the Dark Hour. It was approximately two days away from Christmas, so Kaori made her decision as the leader not to go to Tartarus tonight. This was so that everyone can have a break and enjoy the festivities the following day (Christmas Eve), herself included. Though, having a few hours of sleep may not be the best way to enjoy tomorrow_—_but she was already aware of that from the very beginning, considering what she had planned.

After double-checking that everyone else was either asleep, or outside of the dorm and training at the bottom floors of Tartarus by himself; Kaori and Junpei had commenced with their operation of sneaking down the stairs and guessing what presents they got. Though, _sneakily_ reaching their destination had proved to be _difficult_, especially since her company was Junpei Iori, the so-called master of subtlety; who had nearly tripped over with excitement on his way down the stairs; not to mention that he had nearly knocked down vases and other priceless Kirijo antiques along the way.

Kaori pressed an ear into the carefully-wrapped package, then shook it as if hoping that she could get a clue as to what was inside. It had sounded much too rattly to be a sweater_—_to which she grinned pleasantly, she had always thought that a sweater was too _traditional._ She then smoothed her fingers over every corner, every texture... _A hand bag... maybe?_ Considering the pink wrapping paper, she was more than convinced that the sender of the present was Yukari.

"Kaori-tan, check the time." came the loud voice of her partner in crime, who was busying himself with his share of presents.

"Sssshhhh! Junpei, be quiet..." Kaori brought a finger to his lips, and whispered lowly. "Yukari told me that Mitsuru-senpai is a light sleeper, she'll execute us for sure if she hears you..."

"Geez. Relax, Kaori-tan. She's all the way on the third floor."

"Ex-cuuuse me for not wanting to get caught! You shouldn't underestimate her, she has the hearing of a bat." Kaori said placidly. "And in case you've forgotten, it's the Dark Hour. Clocks don't work at this time, silly."

"Alright, alright, Sooo-rry!" Junpei raised a hand defensively, as if he was being nagged by his mother. "I'll try tone it down. Besides, I wouldn't want to have to experience _that_ again." Junpei mentally shivered.

"Well, I think you all deserved it considering what you three were doing at the time, being a bunch of perverts." Kaori added quietly, giving him a look.

"How many times do we have to keep telling you? It was an accident!" Junpei shouted defensively.

"Junpei! I told you, be quiet!" Kaori covered his mouth in alarm, and scanned the room to make sure that no one had heard his outburst.

"Maan, this is so lame. Why don't we just open them_ now_, Kaori-tan?" Junpei whined, after Kaori had released her hand from his lips.

"I already told you_—_we'd have to wrap the presents back in the exact, same way. That'll just be a waste of our time, and someone is bound to catch us that way."

Junpei rolled his eyes at Kaori's careful slash _paranoid_ (he made sure not to think that out loud) nature. "We'll just run and hide if someone sees us, and if anyone asks, we'll say we had nothing to do with it."

Either Junpei was just really, _really_ stupid, or he didn't give everyone else enough credit; assuming that they wouldn't put two and two together after noticing that Junpei and Kaori's presents were the only ones that would be opened.

"That's a stupid idea." Kaori stated flatly.

"Ouch, you sure know how to kick a guy where it hurts." Junpei sounded a little hurt, but was still grinning nonetheless.

"Well, it _is_ as stupid idea."

"Come on, Kaori-tan. Let's just open them now! They're _our_ presents. Mitsuru-senpai isn't going to care if we don't touch her presents." Junpei countered.

"You know we can't! For one, if someone sees us_—_"

Kaori was unable to finish her sentence as she had heard the light sound of footsteps from behind her.

"...Kaori-san? Junpei-san?" came the groggy voice of a young child.

It was a cue for an awkward silence. Kaori then swiftly tossed aside the present in her hand (hoping that Ken didn't notice) and smiled nervously at the brunette little boy. After recovering from his initial shock, Junpei did the same.

"What are you two doing down here..." Ken yawned, and sleepily rubbed his eyes. "...at this hour?"

Junpei opened his mouth and began to talk. "We were just_—_" Kaori placed a hand over his mouth and glared at him lightly_—_a hundred per cent sure that it was going to be _just as stupid_ as his _excellent _running and hiding idea.

"We couldn't really sleep because we were too excited for Christmas. So, we..." Kaori paused for a moment, hesitated_—_which was quickly replaced with an angelic smile as she spotted the television nearby. "...stayed down here and watched a movie. It finished just about the same time as you came down, Ken-kun."

"Was it any good? What movie was it?" Kaori's red eyes slightly widened with alarm, partly because she hadn't expected Ken to take an interest; and partly because she noted that the slight hint of tiredness in his voice was slowly dispersing.

"Um... well, you see... I didn't really catch the title..." Kaori answered lamely, as she fiddled with her fingers.

"Oh, okay." Ken yawned once more, then took a seat at the sofa in front of them after pouring himself a glass of milk. "So... what was it about?"

"It was about this green dude, and he hated Christmas, so he stole—" Junpei didn't finish what he was about to say, as Kaori glared at him once again.

"Well, Junpei talked through most of the film, so... I didn't really get a good understanding of it." Junpei shrugged and cast a look at Kaori, akin to that of 'Why do you always have to use _me_ as an excuse?' "But I did see the ending, they all lived happily ever and had a very merry Christmas..." Kaori added with a nervous laugh, after she mentally berated herself for sounding like such a bad narrator—not to mention, a bad liar.

"Sounds interesting," said Ken with a small, sleepy grin; at the same time, sounding _very_ unconvinced with Kaori's explanation. "Maybe I should watch this movie, sometime."

Besides the sound of shoes tapping, silence had filled the room once more. "Maybe we should go to sleep soon." Kaori eyed Junpei, giving him the same look that a footballer made when he was about to pass the ball to his team mate. "We have to get up really early tommorow. Don't we, Junpei?"

"Ha... ha... right, you know how bad I am at being a morning person... don't you, kiddo?" Junpei grinned inconspicuously.

They both rushed past the sleepy boy, and anxiously made their way towards the stairs. They had walked at a slow pace, in order to make sure that it wasn't obvious that they had been hiding something.

"Kaori-san?"

Kaori felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, as if Ken's voice had pierced right through her. Why hadn't Ken called Junpei's name out...? He was there, too!

"Would you mind staying down here with me for a little bit?"

"Uhm... I... Well..." was Kaori's intelligent reply. Kaori took a quick glance in front of her, hoping that Junpei would help her out—only to realise that her so-called companion had already dashed ahead, faster than the speed of light.

_Urgh, that traitor! _Kaori narrowed her eyes at the Junpei-shaped cloud in front of her, and bit the insides of her cheeks.

"Please, Kaori-san? I'm sorry for imposing, but I don't really want to be left all alone down here," said Ken, his lower lip beginning to wobble.

"Well, I don't see why not!" Kaori smiled, as nonchalantly as she possibly could.

"Thank you." Ken smiled brightly—Kaori admitted that it was a cute, innocent smile; not like the usual smile he had on when he was trying to mimick Akihiko or Junpei.

"Sooo... Kaori-san..." Ken said with a questioning tone, trying to fill the silence that came soon after. "What did you ask Santa for this year?"

"Uh, well..." Kaori hesitated, afraid that Ken had really seen everything; but then, she smiled to herself at her sudden realisation, finding it cute that he still believed in Santa's existence. "I'd like to tell you, really... but Santa made me promise not to say, otherwise it won't come true."

"Well, you have a point." Ken laughed.

Kaori laughed along with him, feeling her nerves subside slightly.

"I'm really sorry if you felt forced to be here." Ken said guiltily. "This'll only be until I get sleepy again. I hope you don't mind."

"N-No, not at all!" Kaori exclaimed. "I'm happy to be here. I-It's just..."

"You're wondering why I didn't ask Junpei-san?" Ken asked while taking a sip of his milk.

Kaori nodded with surprise. Though, she was partially relieved that she didn't have to ask the question herself, and then give Ken the wrong impression.

Ken brought a hand over his lips, as if he was contemplating, then he said, "Because I only wanted to stay with you."

"I... I see..." Kaori said shakily, an unexplainable feeling as her heart began to pound heavily. Was it anxiety? Nervousness, maybe?

"Oh, and by the way, Kaori-san—" Ken smiled impishly. "It's bad to lie to other people, especially about opening your presents before Christmas."

In response, Kaori blushed lightly with embarrassment—due to the fact that she was _supposed_ to be the grown-up, she wasn't supposed to be on the receiving end of a lecture! But also, there was something else... something else that she didn't quite understand and couldn't find an explanation for—why she had felt so... happy.

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- _Did you like/dislike this and why:_

_- The one who is most 'in-character'?:_

_- The one who is most 'out-of-character'?:_

_- Favourite scene?:_

_- Least favourite scene?:_

_- Any other (on/off topic) comments or questions you have for me:_


	2. Under the Mistletoe

_... And here's story number two. Ryoji comes off as a bit of a flirt here. I dunno if that's a bad thing but I hope you like it anyway. _:)

_Many thanks to **darklinks**, **cloaked-kelpie** and **Deidara'sgirl19** for reviewing the KenxFemC short story._

_To **darklinks**, who requested a yuri: I'll see what I can do? What pairing did you have in mind? AigisxFemC, ElizabethxFemC, oooor...? _

_And to **Deidara'sgirl19:** Thank you so much for clarifying if Theo counts or not! I'll start typing up a fifth story for that pairing, ASAP. _:) _Oh, and btw the end result of the KenxFemC story was a little different from how I originally wrote it; I had to edit the end bit as it felt too similar with how I ended another story. I'll admit I had a bit of trouble with it, but thank you for pointing it out! I'll bear that in mind next time I write a KenxFemC story. :'D_

**Disclaimer: **ME NO OWN. :D

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Short Story #2: Under the Mistletoe (RyojixFemC)

It was a very busy morning at the Iwatodai Dorm. After all, this was the first time in months where everyone didn't have to worry about Tartarus and the Dark Hour; They spent a lot of time fighting shadows over the school year. Their leader, Kaori, had decided to spend their well-earned break wisely. Tonight was going to be special; It was going to be the first Christmas she'd spend with the people she had come to know as her friends.

Even though Kaori was deemed as 'the leader' in Tartarus, it had always felt as though Mitsuru was still in charge. (Not that Kaori particularly minded, as she knew from experience that being in charge wasn't exactly a picnic.)

Mitsuru had given small tasks for everyone to do in order to help out with the preparations for Christmas—Junpei and Akihiko were outside hanging the Christmas lights (Junpei was very disappointed that Mitsuru didn't pair him up with a girl, so he could hold the ladder and _stare). _Fuuka and Shinjiro were in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for everyone else (though they had started a lot earlier than they usually would have, as Shinjiro was also teaching Fuuka the basics at the same time). Yukari and Ken were instructed to go to Iwatodai Strip Mall and buy the groceries. Which left Kaori, Koromaru and Aigis (who insisted to be by Kaori's side over and over) to hang the decorations on the Christmas Tree.

"Good boy, Koro-chan!" Kaori smiled, and slightly bent down from the ladder she was standing on to pat the shiba-inu (who had just handed her a small angel figurine with his mouth) on the head.

"Woof! Woof!" Koromaru barked pleasantly.

"Koromaru-san. says. 'You. are. welcome.'" Aigis replied monotonously, while holding onto the sides of the ladder in order to help Kaori keep her balance.

"Kaori-san. Is. there. anything. else. I. am. able. to. help. with?" Aigis asked after a while.

"Well..." Kaori smiled, sensing that Aigis was feeling a little competitive with Koromaru; and decided to think of something to humour the mechanical maiden. "I guess I am feeling a little thirsty, would you mind bringing me a glass of water?"

"Certainly." Aigis smiled happily, letting go of the ladder and making her way to the kitchen. "I. will. arrive. with. your. beverage. shortly."

"Okay, thank you, Aigis!" Kaori said with a smile, waving at Aigis enthusiastically.

"I guess it's just you and me now. Right, Koro-chan?"

There was no audible response.

"Koro-chan?" Kaori asked with concern.

Kaori heard the shiba-inu growl ferociously. She looked at what was happening below her and saw him taking a predatorial stance. After following the canine's line of vision—Kaori spotted a small rodent chewing on one of the ornaments which was supposed to be hung on the Christmas Tree. Then, her red eyes widened after piecing the situation together when she realised how close the rat was sitting to the ladder _and_ what Koromaru was planning to do.

"Koro-chan! Easy boy! Stay!" Kaori yelled in a panic.

"Woof! Woof!" Koromaru barked, chasing after said rat—and slightly collided with the ladder Kaori was standing on.

"Wh-Whoooaaa!" yelled Kaori as her legs began to wobble, "Uuaaahhh!" She yelped as she lost her footing on the ladder. She closed her eyes instinctively out of fear that she may have had a rough landing—but then felt strong arms protectively wrapping her legs and the back of her neck. Slowly, she opened her auburn eyes, and found a small image of herself mirrored behind familiar, raven eyes.

"Ah, I didn't realise it was raining beautiful women today." Ryoji smirked charismatically.

After Ryoji had let her down, Kaori rolled her eyes meaningfully, already used to his flirtatious antics.

"Thanks, Ryoji-kun." Kaori said with as much gratitude as possible, while dusting herself off. "How lovely to see you. What brings you here?"

"Haha, well it's _always_ lovely to see _you, _Kaori-chan." Ryoji laughed, "Junpei said I could come. I hope it's no trouble."

"No, not at all." Kaori smiled, "It's always a pleasure to have a guest."

"The pleasure is all mine." Ryoji said with a wink, and then took her hand in his, kissing it gently.

"I. apologise. for. the. delay, Kaori-san. I. have. brought. you. 1.89 litres. of. water—" Aigis entered the room, precariously holding eight glasses of water. Though, not too soon after that, all of them fell to the floor with a loud shatter; while at the same time, Aigis dangerously narrowed her eyes at their guest.

"Stay. away. from. Kaori-san!" Aigis threatened, mechanically raising an arm as if she were holding a machine gun, (which she _technically_ was) in his direction. "Ryoji. Mochizuki. You. are. dangerous!"

"T-take it easy, Aigis!" Ryoji took a defensive stance, as if he was being attacked by a mugger. "H-Have I done something wrong?"

"Aigis, it's okay!" Kaori waved her arms, and yelled pleadingly. "Everything's fine! Don't hurt him!"

"You. are. dangerous! You. must. be. eliminated!" Aigis repeated, slapping Ryoji _hard_ across the face.

"Ow!" Ryoji nursed his left cheek, which had been marked with a reddish, metallic hand print.

"Hey! We just heard a loud noise from outside! Is everything okay?" Akihiko yelled, the tone of his voice terminal.

Running behind him were Junpei, Yukari and Ken; all looking very concerned, and entering the lounge to see if everything was _indeed_ okay.

"Ryoji. Mochizuki. is. here." Aigis explained, "He. is. a. threat! I. will. not. allow. him. to. harm. Kaori-san!"

"Oh, brother." Yukari rolled her eyes.

...

"I'm really sorry about what happened..." Kaori apologised once more, as she pressed the ice-pack against his left cheek.

"Agh." Ryoji winced as Kaori pressed the ice-pack much too close.

"Ack, I'm so sorry!" The brunette released the pressure against his damaged skin, after realising the error she had committed.

"You know. For a lovely girl... Aigis is a lot deadlier than she looks," stated Ryoji.

"Mm." Kaori's voice lowered considerably. She was hoping that Mitsuru wasn't being too hard on Aigis downstairs. "Please don't think too badly of her because of what happened. I feel kind of responsible. I don't really know how to explain it, but she's just really _really_ protective of me."

"Oh, I wasn't. It was probably just a misunderstanding," stated Ryoji with a small nod. To which Kaori gave him a warm smile, feeling relieved that he was very understanding about it.

"As for her attachment to you, I guess I can understand why—You just seem to have this amazing ability that draws people to you."

"Oh, you're just saying that." Kaori said with a slight shake of her head, seeing right through his pick-up line which he was trying to coat in a compliment.

"No, I'm not just saying that." Ryoji brought a hand to brush the hair away from her face. "You're such a good friend to Aigis. You didn't even do anything wrong, yet you still feel responsible over what happened. It's really... admirable."

A slight hint of pink was painted across her cheeks, partly because of how close his hand was to her face; and partly because she felt a little surprised that the guy she had thought of as nothing but a huge flirt could actually be so sweet and sincere when it came to words.

"Well... that's, uh, that's... very... sweet of you to say." Kaori finally mumbled. "Thank you, Ryoji-kun."

Ryoji laughed. "There's no need to be shy! Though, I'll admit I kinda like you this way. It's cute." He added with a wink.

Sweet and sincere? Psh, she decided to take back those last thoughts.

"D-Don't tease me!" Kaori puffed her cheeks and narrowed her eyes at him, trying as hard as she could _not _to give him another injury.

Ryoji laughed once more, amused at how easily rattled she was. "I wasn't!"

It had been a good ten minutes, so Kaori removed the ice-pack from his cheek and lightly touched his bruise to check if the swelling had gone down. From what she could see, it didn't seem like he still needed the ice-pack. _Obviously. _Though she was still unsure due to her lack of medical expertise, so she decided to ask him directly.

"Does it feel a bit better, Ryoji-kun?" Kaori asked neutrally.

"It's not so bad, anymore." Ryoji explained calmly, which was then replaced with a mischievous smile. "But you know what would help a _lot_?"

"What?" Kaori asked while rolling her eyes, seeing where _this_ was going.

Ryoji then took a firm grip on her wrists and brought her at a closer distance.

"If you kissed it better." Ryoji cooed, his ivory face dangerously close.

He was almost just as bad as Junpei. _Almost. _"How is _that_ supposed to help?" Kaori asked with sarcastic laughter; gently retrieving her wrists from his grasp and lightly pushing his hands away.

"A kiss from a beautiful girl is all I need." Ryoji stated with a smile, "As the patient, I know my own symptoms_, _and the doctor—or in this case _nurse—_is supposed to make me feel as comfortable as possible."

"Well, the patient is supposed to be a good boy and _listen_ to the doctor—or in this case _nurse_," Kaori added, humouring him. "Not the other way around."

"So, will you kiss me if I promise to be a good boy?"

"As far as I can see, you've been a very naughty boy." Kaori mockingly put on a strict teacher-like voice. "No kisses for you, Ryoji-kun!"

"Oh, I don't know about that." Ryoji smirked deviously all of a sudden.

Kaori raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"You see that?" Ryoji's grin grew wider, pointing at the small, tinselled plant which hung above them. "Mistle-toe—You know what that means, don't you?"

"No, I don't." Kaori smiled confidently, pretending to be oblivious.

"Oh, but you do." Ryoji said matter-of-factly. "Don't you see, Kaori-chan? It's fate. The very moment that I want to kiss you, a mistle-toe shows up."

Kaori laughed at his cheezy explanation. "It doesn't mean anything."

"So you don't want to kiss me?" said Ryouji, giving her a puppy-eyed look.

"I didn't mean it like that."

"So that means you will?"

"...I didn't mean it like that, either."

Ryoji drew a breath. "Then, why won't you kiss me?"

"Fine," shrugged Kaori after a while (sensing that he wasn't going to let this go, _no matter what_), as she rolled her eyes once more and mockingly pouted at him.

Kaori tiptoed, and hovered her face at an angle closer to his. Ryoji closed his eyes with anticipation, waiting for the (presumably) sweet taste of her lips against his—

—only to feel a small, quick pressure on his bruised cheek instead.

Kaori smiled tauntingly at a disappointed and scowling Ryoji. "Merry Christmas, Ryoji-kun."

* * *

If you have a problem with Ryoji needing medical treatment over a slap on the face, I'll say this: Aigis' hand is made of _metal_; Anyone is going to need a lot of medical attention if they got hit/slapped by metal. :3

Right, you know the drill:

_- Did you like/dislike this and why:_

_- The one who is most 'in-character'?:_

_- The one who is most 'out-of-character'?:_

_- Favourite scene?:_

_- Least favourite scene?:_

_- Any other (on/off topic) comments or questions you have for me:_


End file.
